


The Middle

by Measured



Category: How I Met Your Mother
Genre: F/M, Middle Names
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-09-26 18:55:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17147249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Measured/pseuds/Measured
Summary: Tracy tries to guess Ted's middle name.





	The Middle

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Missy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy/gifts).



> [Imagine Person A hiding their middle name from Person B because Person A thinks it痴 embarrassing.](http://otp-imagines-cult.tumblr.com/post/173164416606/imagine-person-a-hiding-their-middle-name-from)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> for Missy/Bring_Me_Sugar for fandom_stocking. This exists in the alt ending so Barney/Robin are still married/got back together, and Tracy is happy and alive and still married to Ted.

The sounds of the bar murmured about them. Glasses clinked, people flirted, fell in love, fell out of love, had hookups, had fights, and drank away their day. Carl cleaned the bar, and the television on the walls showed a dozen sports games or more. Through all of them, on one single television, Robin reported from far off. Ted couldn't help but smile. She'd gone so far in her career, and he was proud to call her his friend.

"The line went pretty slowly today," Tracy said.

Tracy rubbed her thumb across the condensation on the beer bottle. He didn't recognize the crowd, though the bar remained the same as it had for so many stories, so many years. The booth seemed smaller without the rest of the crowd. Barney and Robin were in Hong Kong, on some big scoop, as he'd just glimpsed on the television. Barney kept sending him Snapchats of the wonders of Bubble Tea, and the cuisine, and even one just to say the wifi was great. 

Her dark floral sundress bunched about her shoulders. Tracy's hair hung down her back in long dark waves. Ted sat back, steeped in memories. It was like that first time he'd walked with her, talking deep into the night across the streets, neither wanting to leave. Like he'd stumbled into something amazing. Every day with her left him wondering how he'd got so lucky, after so many hard years to finally find something so effortless, so easy.

She gave him a secret smile as she held out an envelope across the bar table.

"This got accidentally put in my things," she said. "I must've accidentally picked it up when I brought back that twenty page love letter you made from me, where you copied out passages of Neruda between your own words."

"Oh, good. I was wondering where that went. I kind of need to pay rent," Ted said.

"Maybe they'd let you go on good looks," she said.

"Trust me, Barney's tried. I don't think it works in anything but romantic comedies," he said.

"So... Ted E. Mosby?" She lifted her dark eyebrows. "There's a story there."

Had his friends been there, it would've devolved into yelling out his shame, and making an in-joke out of it. But for once, he was in MacLarens with just Tracy.

(Well, and Carl. But he wasn't on a date with Carl.)

"The one and only. Though actually, there's a Ted E. Mosby who used to work in porn. He renamed himself Lance Harddick, though."

"There's _definitely_ a story there," she said.

"I'll have to tell you someday."

She chuckled. "I'm sure you will."

She turned over the envelope on the table. "Let me guess," she said.

"One, you will never guess, and two, I will never tell you."

"Could it be Eric?" she said.

"Mmmn, no. Go fish," Ted said.

Tracy tapped her glossy lips as she thought. "Oh, then it has to be Ernest."

"Earnestly, no," Ted said.

"A shame, Ernest is such a _important_."

"One, I love you for recognizing that. The Importance of Being Ernest is an amazing work by Oscar Wilde. Despite how hot that was, you're ice cold right now," he said.

She raised her eyebrows. "Hmmm, ice cold, like _Erikson_?"

"That's Marshall's last name," Ted said.

"You're so close, I'm surprised you didn't take on his name, like a badge of honor," she said.

Ted laughed. "Are you saying Marshall and I are married? They'd have to get a way bigger bed to fit both me and Lily."

Tracy smiled. "The way you talk about your friends, I wouldn't be surprised. At first it seemed like there wouldn't be room for me in that bed, but they moved over just enough to fit me in."

"Eddie? Ernie? Evermore?"

Ted laughed again. He lifted up his beer and took a sip. Sometimes it was good to keep secrets. But, Ted was never good at that. All his embarrassing stories came pouring out. With her, he just couldn't stop talking. Stories and books and anecdotes, even the embarrassing ones.

He reached his hand out and took hers in his.

"It's Evelyn. Ted Evelyn Mosby."

"Evelyn? That brings up the image of--"

"I know, an old lady with a blue hair rinse, who can't stop talking about her arthritis." Barney had told that one, several times. Robin would lean into him, laughing until she could barely talk. Lily and Marshall had personally made an in joke that involved yelling _Bingo Night!_ The whole table would dissolve into laughter--even Ted, who certainly knew how to take a joke at his expense after all these years.

"You know, it fits," Tracy said.

"Are you, madame, implying that I act like a pearl-clutching elderly woman?"

"Encyclopedia," she said pointedly.

"Encyclo _ae_ dia," he instantly corrected her.

"Mmhmm, see? But I love you anyways, Lady Tedwina Evelyn Slowsby," she said. 

"Driving the speed limit makes things safer for everyone," Ted said.

She laughed. "That it does. And you sound even more like an old lady now. Like with your fanny packs and how prepared you are," she said.

"They're coming into fashion again. For your information, I saw some orange tie dye ones at Walmart discount rack."

She smiled mischievously. "You know, we should get Barney some, and then bet them to wear them. Like the Ducky Tie Fanny pack sequel."

He leaned in to kiss her. "I love the way you think."

They clinked their beers together in a toast. His friends may have been temporarily gone, but they were still close by. In notifications, in memories, and in killer future pranks that he and the love of his life were going to pull.


End file.
